It’s hard to imagine what Michael might be thinking after spending so many years in prison, but there was a real weight of the words that he would not be considered responsible for the murder of his wife. That wasn’t enough for him, however, since he did still have to agree to accept a charge of manslaughter and acknowledge that a jury could convict him without a reasonable doubt. Sophie seems most attached to his release because she firmly believes in his innocence, and she’s latching on as much as possible to the theory that the owl was responsible for Kathleen’s death (which now makes me think that this case was the inspiration for the parody series “Trial and Error,” which I highly recommend, even though it doesn’t seem very kind given this context). As usual, we did see a visualized representation of how Kathleen could have died if indeed it was an owl, and that one gradually built dread since she started outside the house and then ran inside while calling Michael for help only to die on her own. Michael’s children were all hit hard by the news that he had lost his appeal, but the strongest reactions came to other revelations, namely from Margaret when she learned about how Michael had wanted to split her and Martha up, something she didn’t end up telling her sister because she was preoccupied with the joy of finally realizing something about herself. Caitlin had the harshest response to Michael potentially being exonerated, angrily assuring Sophie she sleeps very well at night knowing that he would die in prison.
